Ed Miliband will today portray Alex Salmond as a divisive figure praying for Conservative success because he believes it will give him a better chance of winning the independence referendum.

In a sustained attack on Mr Salmond and the SNP, the Labour leader will bracket the nationalists with the Tories in an attempt to appeal to party supporters in Scotland who may be considering backing independence.

He will use his annual address to the Scottish Labour conference to argue that Mr Salmond “spends his time drawing a line through the country”. Mr Miliband will tell delegates in Inverness: “He divides

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It may seem odd that a party that is not in government in either Westminster or Holyrood has such an important role to play in what Scotland might look like after the referendum in 2014. But Labour has the ability to shape what a "No" vote will mean.
That is why the Scottish Labour conference this weekend, especially its devolution commission, is so important in setting out the direction not just for Labour but for the whole of the "better together" campaign.
Reports suggest that the devolution commission will recommend giving the Scottish Parliament control over income tax. An expansion of the current powers is welcome but to omit other major taxes would be a missed opportunity.
It would also be disappointing if devolving control over some further benefits were rejected.
Conferring greater fiscal powers should not be about some strategy to stave off independence, but recognition that for the Scottish Parliament to become more effective and accountable, it must be responsible for raising most of the money it spends.
With only one question now on the ballot paper, the pro-independence parties, the SNP and Greens, may shape the meaning of a "Yes" vote but have no real influence over what a "No" vote might look like until it is settled one way or the other at the referendum. That is the prerogative of the other parties and it is Labour, with twice the number of MSPs that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have jointly, that has the moral mandate to lead the way.
Polls show a huge swing vote of many Scots who are either undecided on how they will vote in 2014 or believe neither a "Yes" or "No" vote offers them what they want.
In a poll last year, over 40 per cent of Scots wanted, as their first option, to remain in the UK but with significantly greater powers given to Holyrood over tax and welfare.
Both sides seem to recognise this: the SNP is offering us monetary, regulatory and social unions as well as keeping the Union of the Crowns if we vote Yes.
On the other side, the Sir Menzies Campbell report on Home Rule for the Liberal Democrats proposes giving Scotland the power to raise the majority of what it spends, and both Labour and the Conservatives now have their own commission on further devolution.
This is a huge opportunity for the Labour party in Scotland to grab the initiative, setting out clearly how a "No" vote differs from the status quo. Just like the Calman proposals which led to the Scotland Act, the pro-Union parties need a credible forum to set out a New Union with greater devolved powers, but still firmly within the rest of the United Kingdom and this needs to be done well in advance of the referendum to be understandable and credible to the public.
If they are vague and cannot reach consensus, then any change after the referendum will be left for the SNP Government at Holyrood and the Coalition in London to debate what further powers will be devolved to Scotland.Ben Thomson is chairman of the Reform Scotland think tank